


Impulse

by femmextrordinaire



Series: Survival of the Fittest [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Children, F/M, Mental Illness, Might have smut, Romance, Survival, Teenagers, alternative walking dead, lots of ass kicking, mainly OC characters, maybe rape, occasional run in with the tv characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-01 11:45:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4018522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femmextrordinaire/pseuds/femmextrordinaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I never asked for any of this. But guess what? No one did. </p><p>Azura Rockets was your typical seventeen year old high school graduate. She had hopes. Hell, she had dreams. The majority of them involved leaving her small home town and going anywhere else, the farther away from her family, the better. But, without warning, the whole world is corrupted by the vicious virus, and she's trapped in it. Now, thrust with the responsibility of protecting her brothers, she's then forced to play the leader of her friends. Would they even survive? </p><p>*This is an alternative version of the Walking Dead. This is an original story with original characters, but they will run in with the TV cast members from time to time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Impulses

Life is fickle.

People make it seem like it’s some permanent state of mind, like it’s going to stay stagnant forever and ever. Fortunately and unfortunately, that’s not the truth. If it was, more people would be dead rather than alive. Not because of fate, but because of boredom.

I’m a firm believer that life itself is the same as any other human being. We have our off-days, and we have our brief bouts of absolute happiness. Our world has gone through its share of “bad days”, and in any other circumstance, I wouldn’t complain.

My name is Azura Rockets, and I’m a seventeen year old girl living in the apocalypse. This is my story, my fickle life.

~~~~~~

“Azura, hurry the hell up!” The annoyance in my friend’s voice only made me smile, and I took my time, looking in mirror. All around me was chaos. Bottles were strewn all over the sink, bits of liquid sticking to the counter. Grinning, I plugged in my earplugs and put on _Requiem for a Tower_ on the maximum volume, deafening out the world around me.

I was wearing a black tank top with some random band logo on it with dark shorts that matched and loosely fit around my hips. Red thigh high socks ran up my legs, bringing a splash of color to the outfit, and I was proudly donning my trusty combat boots to finish. I knew I looked scandalously hot and that I would go to hell for it, but my focus wasn’t on the eventual punishment. My eyes were dead on the beautiful monstrosity I had committed on myself. Satisfied, I winked at my reflection and left the bathroom. As I headed into the bedroom, I tried to not think about why I wasn’t at my own home that night.

“AZURA!” Hearing the high pitched scream made me rip off the earplugs and spin around to see what the commotion was about.

 On the bed was Sapphire Edwards staring at me in horror, her clear blue eyes widening by the second. Cascades of beautiful red hair fell down her shoulders, creating the illusion of a hipster Ariel. Wide rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, held there so often that small red indentations were permanently imprinted onto her skin. The eighteen year old had on a patriotic ensemble, with a red v-neck and blue jean shorts. A pair of Converse lay by her feet, the laces on the ground looking like disheveled glob of spaghetti. Trembling softly, her thin lips murmured,

“What did you do to your hair?” What did I do? That was an excellent question. To be perfect honest, I was still figuring out why and how I did it. My fingers were entangled into the silky strands, slightly tugging to feel the strength. Splotches of green were tattooed into my skin, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.

In some sort of excited frenzy, I had rushed to Sapphire’s house without invitation or warning, lugging around a box of lush green hair dye. Now where long dark brown locks used to lay, a mob of emerald rested on my head, bringing out the tan in my skin and, surprisingly, the brightness in my brown eyes. Grinning, I said,

“You like?” My friend stared open-mouthed at me, and my eyes rolled, silently chiding the girl for her lack of an intelligible response. “So, we are going to that party, right? So put your shoes on! Charlotte’s going to be here soon-”

“Zura, what happened at your house?” Sapphire’s voice was dangerously low, the kind of low that sent goosebumps on my skin. Knowing me, she knew that something must have set me off, like something _always does._ In general, she was the more laid-back friend with the shy charisma that drew people towards her. She wasn’t threatening or tempestuous either, cutting that factor out of her personality. Butshe did have a vicious component to her entire being. If she wanted to know something, she was going to find out, regardless if you wanted her to know or not. Shrugging, I said,

“Nothing. I was just in the mood to come on over.” What left my mouth was total bullshit, and the two of us knew it. Silently, I prayed that the red head would leave it alone, but it was a slim chance. What she wanted, she got. Before she could speak, we heard the coordinated three honks from the cul-de-sac down the street; we simultaneously started grinning, and next thing I know, I’m jamming my phone and earphones into my backpack/purse while Sapphire started furiously tying the laces into bows quickly. I was about to start opening the window when something caught my eye on the corner of my eye.

The television screen was featuring some new live story: _New Virus Spreading Throughout the United States._ While a normal person would immediately panic, I raised an eyebrow. Weeks ago, the whole goddamn country had gotten us worried about ebola and literally nothing happened. I knew that this wasn’t something worry about. It was simply a story to circulate through the networks. Shaking my head, I turned to the window and bit back a laugh seeing Sapphire hoist a leg over the windowsill, her face scrunched up in concentration. Neither of her parents were aware of our plans, and she still got nervous sneaking out. I was already used to doing it at my house, but half the time, my folks knew of it since the cause of my leaving had been our loud blow up fights. Not that we were talking about that.

After managing to land on the ground without hurting ourselves, we began to sprint through the darkness, trying to remain unseen. Me being the taller one, I was the faster runner, but I felt my stamina begin to drop. Laughing, I slowed down abruptly and allowed my shorter friend to pass me. Taking deep breaths in that street, I couldn’t help but think that I was being watched throughout the darkness. A small cloud of mist had risen through the air, giving the suburbs an eerie quality to it.

“Azura, come on!” Looking ahead, I saw Sapphire waving an arm at a sleek black car, supposedly Charlotte’s vehicle. I whooped loudly and began running again towards it, trying to ignore the creeping feeling in my skin. Finally reaching the car, I jumped into the passenger seat and started playing with the radio.

“So, are you bitches ready?” At first glance, Charlotte seemed like a twelve year old with her small petite body and child-like blue eyes, but I had known her long enough to know otherwise. With straw blond hair and pale white skin, she resembled a doll, and by doll, I mean one that would slit your throat while you were sleeping. She was a street smart eighteen year old with a dirty mouth to match, and hell, if you pissed her off, you were sure to regret it. She was just as sarcastic as me, but she was a pretty nice person…when she wanted to be. “Ah, shit. Azura, what the hell did you do to your hair?” Of course, nobody would shut up about the goddamn hair. “Sapphire? Really? You let her?” The red head yelled from the back seat,

“She just barged in with the dye, and I couldn’t stop her. It’s not like _I_ did it.” Before I could rise to defend my honor, Charlotte retorted,

“Come on! It was your house! What the hell are her parents gonna say? Remember the last time she did something like this? Grounded for a whole fucking month-”

“MAYBE I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK?!” The scream left my mouth before I could stop it, and the sound left behind a cutting silence that was threatening to suffocate us. Both my friend remained quiet, so I turned the radio on to dull out the tension in the car. As I turned the music on, Charlotte revved up the engine and began driving.

Charlotte, Sapphire, and I have been close friends all throughout high school. As we’ve grown up, little quirks have defined us. While we differed in several ways, we all had one thing in common: unwavering loyalty. Despite the obvious differences, if either one of us was threatened, we wouldn’t hesitate to start a fight, verbal or physical.

Charlotte was the sarcastic one you could trust to tell you the truth, even if you didn’t want it. If she didn’t like something, she would say something about it, regardless of hurting anyone’s feelings. Definitely an extrovert, she liked to live an adventurous life. Just not one that was too crazy. Whenever someone pissed her off, she wouldn’t beat them up. Hell, they wish that they could be beaten. She had the terrible ability to bring anyone to their knees simply with her words. I’ve been on the ugly end of her wrath before so I could vouch for it.

Sapphire was the sweet one with the sweet disposition and the laid back attitude. She had a sweet charisma that drew people to her, and she had a sweet, innocent like demeanor to herself. Hardly ever mean to people (intentionally), she was an easy friend to maintain. However, she had a tendency to be spoiled. She got what she wanted, or you’d have an angry red head flinging herself at you. Sapphire was more of a physical person rather than verbal. I honestly think that she had too much of a kind heart to hurt anyone _that_ deeply.

I was a strange creature. While my two other friends were obvious introverts or extroverts, I was put in the middle. In certain situations, I was like the Energizer Bunny, gathering my energy from the people all around me. In others, I was the quiet one, completely oblivious to the world. Experts call it ambiversion. I called it weirdness. Another component to my personality was impulsiveness. I rarely thought before I leapt, and whenever I did, I was plagued by the violent desire to act on my impulses. It reared its ugly face whenever I fought with my family, and it was my angry words that often stung. And, my emotions tended to make my decisions rather than reason. There have been moments where something just set me off, and I was sent into an emotional frenzy of tears and screams. My friends have suspected my emotional instability, but we’ve never discussed it.

As we pulled into the drive of the house, I could see Sapphire’s boyfriend Mason hanging out by the lawn, drinking out of a red cup. If there was one thing that brought a light to her eyes, it was that guy. With light blonde hair and blue eyes, he had an easy going atmosphere to him, but wherever Sapphire was concerned, he become completely serious. I wasn’t sure whether I _liked_ him, but I did know that he cared about my friend. She immediately left the car and slammed the door shut before running to hug Mason. Out of habit, I turned my head. For some reason, I always felt like I was intruding whenever couples kissed in front of me, like I didn’t have any business looking at them.

“Azura, what happened with your family?” Before I could leave to avoid the question, she pressed the locks on all the doors, and I sighed softly before turning to glare at her. Her bright blue eyes were contorted in worry, and for the first time in a long time, I saw the scared expression on her face. “Babe, it’s time for you to start opening up to us. We know things aren’t going right for you at home, and we can help-” I interrupted quickly.

“Help me? How the hell can you guys help me? I have a genius brother with an attitude problem, an autistic one with an obsession with guns, and two fighting parents. What the hell could you do to help that situation?” Charlotte looked shocked, and I took advantage of her surprise and got the out of the car.

The last thing I should be doing is drinking, I know. But right now, the one thing I need is to forget about the troubles in my life and just have a good time. As I ran in the house, the pungent odor of vomit and sweat filled the air, and I held my breath, looking for the kitchen. Sure enough, there were loads of teens in there, taking shots and drinking beer. Judging by the look of them, they had to be at least fifteen years old. I myself was seventeen about to turn eighteen, so I knew the temptation. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the freezer and grabbed some tequila. Out of all the liquors, tequila was the one who did the best for me. After borrowing shot glasses, I poured the drink into them and started taking them, one by one.

“Rockets!” Spilling the drink down my chin, I spun around to see Tyler Jacobs, the tall ex-quarterback from high school. He was a cute guy with short dark hair and sea foam green eyes. But, that’s where the attraction ends. The former king of our high school, the nineteen year old was now attending the local community college for a degree in “anything that I can finish quickly”. He was also known for being a total man whore. Hell, Tyler was the one who stole Sapphire’s virginity freshman year and didn’t speak to her for the rest of his high school career. I was the only one who was aware of this fact, and boy did I hold it against him. “Wow, I love the new look!” He tugged lightly on a strand of hair playfully. Trying to regain my dignity, I hissed,

“What, Jacobs?” He pouted at my cold tone, and I was tempted smack that look off his face.

“Aw, Rockets, why are you always so mean?”

“Maybe because you’re a good for nothing man whore who hurts people. Like Sapphire.” He raised an eyebrow at the name, and I knew he was going through the names in his head, trying to detect my friend’s.

“Are you talking about Sapphire Edwards?”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Tyler was obviously not at all aware of how badly he messed with my friend, but I wasn’t going to take pity on him. He deserved that beating I had planned on giving him, only for Sapphire to stop me.

“Babe, that was three years ago. It’s done and over. Now…” He gestured to the liquor shrine I created and ruffled my hair. “Why are you all by yourself drinking up my tequila?” Raising an eyebrow, I retorted,

“Ah, did you already claim this shit as your own?” A hearty chuckle left his lips, and I felt confusion.

“Darling, perhaps you should know that this is my house. I’m the one throwing the party.” A deep blush came on my face, and I felt like a retard. How could I not ask whose house this was? “It’s technically my brother’s party, but the guy’s too much of a douche to leave his room.” It was common knowledge that Tyler had a twin, but he was the total opposite of him. Apparently, he was a loner who didn’t talk to anyone. The only person I knew who actually _spoke_ to him was Sapphire. Apparently, during her stint with Tyler, he was the only one who really cared about her and comforted her after the break up. Now, thinking back on it, he was probably the one who invited us. “I even gave him the option to take over the music, but still nothing.” Tyler ran a hand through his dark hair, and I could see the frustration growing on his face. When he caught me peeking, he grinned, and all signs of agitation disappeared. “So, Rockets, drink with me?” Now, logic was screaming at me to say “no” and walk away. Logic was telling me that Tyler was trying to get me into bed, and that if I did, I was going to regret it. Heck, I know that I’ll regret it and feel like shit about it later. But, unfortunately, the impulsiveness is winning. Shrugging, I grabbed a shot glass and downed it. With a whoop, the man took one as well.

After about thirty minutes of downing shots, I knew I had reached past the point of no return. My inhibitions were ebbing away, and I noticed that a pleasant buzz has spread throughout my body. By now, Tyler and I were chilling on the couch, just talking bullshit. It was when he placed a hand on my thigh, rubbing the exposed skin softy. At first, I wanted to smack his hand away from me, but that desire to lose myself tonight halted me. I mean, I’m drunk, and, by the way things were going, I was about to get an orgasm by the end of the night. What would I decide? Knowing myself, the choice was obvious. Without another word, I stood up, holding his hand. He immediately followed, and together we walked through the throngs of people in the halls. Various teens were making out or perhaps doing the same thing we were about to do. I didn’t have to be sober to know that I was making a huge mistake, and if I was I in my right mind, I would have been running from Tyler and looking for my friends. However, I wasn’t in my mind.

I was pushed into a room, and sloppy kisses began to touch my neck. I could feel the saliva dripping on my neck, and immediately I was repulsed. Then, without warning, he placed his hands on my behind, gripping it tightly. That caught me off guard, and I was starting to wonder what the hell he was doing. Wasn’t he supposed to be turning me on? This was doing the complete opposite. I felt the back of the bed hit my legs, and the subtle horror of what I was about to do hit me. Right as I was about to shut down the whole operation, a voice from behind him filled the air.

“Tyler, what the hell are you doing?” We both froze, and I watched Tyler turn around to see who had spoken. Then, gorgeous hazel eyes captivated me, and I felt the air rush out of my lungs at the sight.

A young Asian man was leaning around the doorframe, an emotionless look on his face. Pale white skin spread throughout his body, making his dark hair shine even brighter in the room. Messy black hair lay on his head with white streaks breaking through the darkness like lightening. He looked more lean and lanky rather than the built Tyler, but I found myself immediately more attracted to him than my current partner. A puff of smoke left his full lips, and I noticed the cigarette in between his fingertips.

“Ollie, come on, get the hell out of my room! I’m busy-” Ollie interrupted him coldly.

“Tyler, you’re drunk. If I don’t stop you, you might end up puking on her while you cum.” Now thinking on it, I could definitely see that “Ollie” wasn’t filtered like the thing he was smoking. “Now, get out of here. I think there are some chicks having a strip club down in the dining room.” Sure enough, that got the idiot’s attention, and Tyler left me behind as he ran out of the room. Then, it was just me and the guy at the doorway. “You okay?” After inhaling a bit of the cigarette, he began to walk towards me slowly. “Sorry about that. Tyler tends to be a bit of a loser when he gets drunk-”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” To say I was annoyed was an understatement. I didn’t care for anyone fighting my battles for me, and I hated how he got rid of Tyler for me. I was a big girl, not some damsel in distress. After raising an eyebrow, Ollie replied,

“I think I’m the guy who just got you out of a bad situation. You should be thanking me.” The balls on this jackass! The anger was sobering me up, so I knew I wasn’t going to make myself a complete fool tonight. I strutted in front of him and hissed,

“What if I _wanted_ to fuck him huh? Has that fucking occurred to you or do you usually make decisions for others?” A small angry blush came on his face, and I knew that I was pissing him off.

“So I guess that grimace on your face was a reflection of your desire, huh? Sorry for helping you not make a goddamn mistake!” Of course he had to be a dick. Shaking my head, I said,

“Have people ever told you you’re a pretentious asshole?” He retorted,

“Has anyone ever told you you’re an ungrateful bitch?” I felt my mouth gape open, and then the violent impulse to smack the shit out of him took over. I raised my arm to do it, but then Charlotte’s face popped up from the door way. She looked high out of her mind, and a little giggle left her mouth.

“Zura, Sapphire’s having a cat fight down in the living room! Come take a look!” Now, if Charlotte’s high, I could only imagine how bad Sapphire is. I was about to leave the room while Ollie left the room quickly. Curious, I followed him.

Like I’ve said, Sapphire is a physical person, but you have to push her to a certain level to actually get a reaction out of her. So someone must have majorly pissed her off. To my horror, Sapphire was apparently trying to ram some chick’s head into the floorboard while her hair was being pulled into different directions. Then, to my shock, the guy who had interrupted me and Tyler jumped in and started dragging my friend away from the other girl. Sapphire drunkenly started fighting him, and I decided to step in before he gave him a black eye.

“Love, hey, I’m here!” I waved a hand in front of her face, and she grinned at me.

“Hey, Zura, did you see me with that girl? She dared to start making a move on Mason and I showed her!” She seemed so proud of herself, so I couldn’t help but grin at her.

“Sapphy, where’s Mason?” Her face contorted in concentration, then it twitched for a moment. Puke came flying out of her mouth, and I jumped backwards to avoid being splattered.

“Come on, Sapphire. Let’s take you outside.” He began to take her away, and I walked close to them.

“Oliver?” From the recognition in her voice, I figured that they were familiar with each other. As I caught up to him, I asked,

“How do you know Sapphire?” Oliver looked at me with a strange expression as he carried her outside towards the bushes. Immediately, the red head threw up in the foliage, breaking the silence of the outside.

“I’m Tyler’s brother; after the whole scandal, I was the one who helped her. I actually tried to get her to dump him before it happened.” Oliver was Tyler’s twin. How the hell did I not realize it? I looked at him in shock, and then the dumbest thing left my mouth.

“You look nothing like Tyler though.” He looked at me with disbelief, and I cursed myself. Way to go, Azura.

“You ever hear of fraternal twins?” Oh, great. He was about to give me a lecture.

“Yeah, I have actually. I didn’t mean to say that.” We then were stuck in awkward silence, and I couldn’t help but feel like I had to say something to him. I mean, he did something that I couldn’t do for Sapphire. Sure, I was able to comfort her, but he was closer to the situation. We were young, innocent freshman who didn’t have a clue of what Tyler was capable of. At least Oliver had tried to stop her. “Thanks…I guess. You helped her during that whole mess.” I was busy looking at the ground, trying to get the haze out of my brain. By now, the party was over for me, and I was fixing to get Charlotte and have her drive us home.

“You did a lot. She told me what you wanted to do to him after you heard.”

“Yeah, she stopped me.” I allowed the bitterness to seep into my tone of voice, silently beating myself up for actually attempting to sleep with him.

“And you were about to do that same thing she did.” There wasn’t any coldness or smugness in those words. He was simply stating a fact. I dared to glance at him, and that same look was in his eyes.

“Sapphire!” Mason came running out of nowhere, a beer bottle in his hand. He ran to her in the bushes, frantically asking if she was okay. Wanting to give them space, I gestured to the side of the house and began walking. When we reached it, I leaned against it, as did he. As the minutes passed, my mind grew clearer, and I was horrified by my actions tonight. If I hadn’t been interrupted, I could be doing something so stupid right now.

“Thanks for stopping me. You must think I’m such a terrible friend-”

“I didn’t stop you for Sapphire. Hell, I’m way more selfish than you think.” Confused, I turned to look at him, and his captivating eyes held me there. “I haven’t had the best of luck at life. I’m the outsider in my family. I never really put myself out there and made a difference. Hell, people don’t even know my name. Everything goes to Tyler. And, I’m okay with that. Me getting into this university is the biggest thing ever, and I’m happy about it, but…it was still about Tyler. This whole party? Planned and for Tyler. For once, I’d like something that he can’t have.” He grabbed a hold of my hand, and like with Tyler, I didn’t pull it back.

“POLICE!”


	2. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cops storm the house, leaving Azura, Sapphire, and Charlotte little time to say their goodbyes. If only they knew what was waiting for them back at home?

Cops are never good news. They’re an immediate reminder of what not so innocent creatures we were. And honestly, they were, perhaps, the shittiest thing to happen on this shitty day.

Despite my head clearing, I still felt buzzed, and I knew that I would land straight into a cell the moment they used a Breathalyzer on me. Then, my parents would have to pick me up, which would make our troubled situation ten times worse. I could only imagine my parents having to bail me out, drunk and with a new hairstyle. Hell, it would be the one thing to prove that I was the problem in the family, not them.

Trying to keep myself from panicking, I walked towards the lights flashing in the front yard and looked for Charlotte’s car. Unfortunately, the police had managed to barricade the whole lawn, as if to keep the partiers from making a run for it. From my position, I could hear teens yelling in surprise, and I knew I had to find my friends.

“Hey, I have a plan. Follow me!” Oliver yanked my8 hand in the opposite direction, and I had no choice but to follow him. Some part of me wanted to rebel against him, but my instincts were telling me to obey. Together, we ran along the house, trying to remain quiet. I could hear the yells of surprise of the guests as the police stormed the house, and I was silently praying that Charlotte and Sapphire were in the clear.

“Sapphire, keep it down! We’ve got to get the hell out of here!” The sound of puking made me walk faster, and we ran to the back of the house where we found the red-head with her head in the bushes. Mason was holding her hair back and harshly whispering in her ear. “Let’s go before the cops find us-”

“Hey, where’s Charlotte?” He jumped as I spoke up, and I looked around to make we weren’t being watched.

“I don’t know; last time I saw her, she was tonguing some douche in the kitchen.” He didn’t at all seem concerned for our friend, and I felt myself starting to get annoyed. Fortunately, Oliver stepped in before I could say something I would regret.

“Look, Charlotte’s the midget, right?” I nodded. “Well, you three stay out here and wait for me to come back.” While Mason and Sapphire said yes, I stayed silent. I was still wondering whether I should trust this guy. Just saying “I like you” isn’t enough. For all I knew, he could have been the same as his brother, a womanizer. “Greenie, you are gonna stay out here, right?” His voice had deepened to a low tone, and my hair stood up at the sound of it. Then, I heard the inane nickname he had given me. Rolling my eyes, I said,

“I won’t promise anything.” A little smirk came on his face, and he nodded, running into the house. Almost immediately, Sapphire lifted her head from the bushes and gave me an impish grin.

“So, you and Ollie?” Raising an eyebrow, I retorted,

“And what makes you think that? He’s been only keeping me company-”

“Babe, I may be drunk, but a man doesn’t look at a girl like that for nothing.” Then, she resumed puking into the foliage.

“PUT ME DOWN NOW!” That sharp squeak was Charlotte’s. I quickly spun around to see my tiny friend attempting to kick her way away from Oliver’s tight embrace. He had been carrying her bridal style, and I could see little bruises from where she had hit him. As Oliver came out of the house, he put down the angry girl and stood close to me.  

“Do you guys know Tony Michaels?” Tony Michaels was the guy who got you what you needed, only with a price. Hell, Charlotte and Sapphire had gotten their fair share of favors from the guy, and I’ve had to intervene if he got pervy with my friends. “Well, I did him a favor, so now he owes me. He’ll drive you guys to your homes.” To be honest, we weren’t in the best of situations, and I shouldn’t be picky regarding our get-away driver, but the idea of depending on Tony for anything repulsed me. The strangest thing was that I felt safer by Oliver’s side. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly an option for us. “You alright with that?” Sapphire, Mason, and Charlotte all nodded enthusiastically while I gazed at Oliver, trying to hide the worry from my face. He seemed to catch my hesitation but was interrupted by the arrival of Tony.

Despite his sleazy reputation, he didn’t have a decrease of admirers. A tall and broad African-American with green eyes and dark hair, he had the bad-boy look down to a T. Multiple piercing filled his ears, and there were numerous tattoos decorating his body. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and jeans that emphasized his physique. Even I couldn’t deny the appeal in his features. His cold eyes immediately appraised my own, and I glared back, sending him the message to watch his back. If I even caught him fooling around with my friends, he would have hell on his heels. He turned towards Oliver and said,

“Whoa, man. You didn’t tell me that I would have to drive Rockets. Deal’s off.” There was nothing but contempt in his voice, and I scoffed at it with a roll of my eyes. 

“Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly ideal for me either. But, I have no problem smacking you around if you try any funny business.” He retorted,

“Maybe you should stay out of shit that doesn’t even concern you!” Defiantly, I walked right up to him and hissed,

“Make me.” I knew I was playing with the beast, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. All I wanted to do was set him off, prove that he wasn’t anything but a sleaze with a pretty face. . Tony snarled at me nastily and raised a hand, as if to hit me. As I prepared for the impact, there was a scuffle, and I found myself in Sapphire’s arms. Unsteady, I fell on the ground with her behind me. Oliver meanwhile was slamming Tony against the wall, growling,

“If you even lay a _hand_ on her, I’ll make sure to make your life miserable. Do you understand me, Michaels?” Tony didn’t even look bothered. Instead, he was more amused by Oliver. Before nodding, he gave me the coldest smirk possible, his eyes full of darkness. I trembled softly as I stood up; I was about to say something when we heard loud voices nearing the kitchen. Immediately, Tony was let go, and everybody else was running for cover in the woods cloaked in the darkness.

In that moment, time froze for me. It was as if the world had stopped spinning, and the only thing holding me to the ground were the sight of the hazel brown eyes gazing at me with a sort of sadness in the orbs. And the strangest thing was that I knew exactly what was running through his mind.

Through some strange strand of fate, we ended up being pushed together, regardless of our lack of compatibility in personality. I don’t know what it was about him; it was like his entire existence was a shot of heroin into my system, making the idea of being without him hurt my insides. A rational person shouldn’t be feeling any of this; they should just accept this for what it is: a dose of infatuation. Nothing more.

“Zura, we’ve gotta go!” Sapphire dragged me towards the others, a frantic look of terror on her face. I would have followed those deep ocean blues to the darkness, but that shade of brown held on to me with a vice grip. I looked again at Oliver, imagining that this might be the last time I saw him. That’s when the impulse hit me like a wrecking ball.

I yanked myself from my friend’s grip and ran towards the asshole smoking behind the house, absolutely still. The pale white ghost of a man looking like a haunted soul with his black-and-white appearance. His face was pointed towards the ground, hiding the beautiful splash of hazel that I loved. I called out, 

“Oliver!” He looked up, and I did possibly the stupidest thing ever. Worse than trying to hook up with Tyler. I kissed him.

Our lips touched, and it was like a supernova erupted between us, obliterating any sense of logic from our vicinity. What was supposed to be a small kiss goodbye turned into a desperate lip-lock. Don’t get me wrong; it was gentle and sweet, but it had mountains of emotion stacked up behind it. I wrapped my hands in his dark hair and brought him closer to me; he reciprocated the motion by gripping my hips tightly. It didn’t seem to matter that we were making out at the worst possible time. All that mattered was that we were touching. I had just broken the kiss to gasp for air when a door slammed open, illuminating the night. My eyes burst open, and I saw the police coming for us. Immediately, Oliver shoved me in Sapphire’s direction, yelling,

“RUN!” I didn’t have enough time to even think since the adrenaline began to ring through my veins, making me run into the woods with the others. For some strange reason, I began to laugh as my heart beat faster, a sort of hysterical giggle. Maybe that was the start. The start to what, you may ask?

The start to the loss of my sanity. It started with those hypnotizing hazel brown eyes.

~~~~

“Tony, start the damn thing!” We all sat in the backseat of the sleaze ball’s Jeep, frantically looking behind us to make sure we weren’t being followed. Charlotte called shotgun, so she was able to sit next to the driver and nag him while the rest of us sat in the back and kept watch. Only thing was that Charlotte had passed out, and Mason was starting to doze off. Therefore, I was the only one looking out.

“Shut the hell up! I’m trying here; I think the engine might be jammed.” Tyler looked absolutely murderous as he spoke to Charlotte, but the tiny girl refused to be intimidated. That was the thing about Charlotte; generally, every move was calculated. She rarely lost control of herself, regardless of how angry she was. I was the opposite of her; whenever I became upset, little chinks of my armor fell, revealing my true emotions.

“How about you get on outside and see what the hell is the problem?” She hissed at him, and with a groan, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut, almost waking up Sapphire. At that, the midget kicked the dashboard of the car, earning a glare from Tony.

If you didn’t know Charlotte, you’d think she’d be inhibiting signs of annoyance, but I knew that feisty fleabag. She never bothered with being this pushy and rude if there wasn’t ulterior motive. Grinning, I whispered,

“I think you like Tony.” She froze and turned to give me an amused look. “I mean, I don’t blame you. He _is_ cute.” I was trying to be supportive, but to be honest, I just wanted her to deny it all. The last thing she needed to do was date the first lowlife with a pretty face. Charlotte had yet to actually engage in a serious relationship. She hooked up with people, but I’ve never seen her _date_ exactly.

“He’s fuckable, but I don’t think I like him like that.” I raised an eyebrow, and she chuckled. “I’m serious; you know me. I don’t date-”

“But you have to eventually. Otherwise, you’ll end up a spinster, and who wants that for a future?” Immediately, my friend looked uncomfortable, and I was about to leave her alone about it when she replied,

“How about we talk about you and Jacobs’ brother?” It was my turn to have a massive blush, and my tiny friend giggled. “Wasn’t that your first kiss?”

“Shut up, midget. You know it was.” It was a secret among my friends that I was the prude. I hadn’t even dated before, let alone have sex. It wasn’t that I wanted to wait till marriage; I just hadn’t found that special someone…up till now.

“So are you two a thing now?” She kept on prodding, and I started to curse myself for bugging her in the first place. This was fucked up karma.

“I don’t know! It was a spur of the moment decision…I just wanted him to remember me by that.”

“Well, his brother is the bloody hot Tyler Jacobs; if you pull some strings with the boy toy, I’m sure you could meet with him.”

“I’m not sure, Charlotte. I’m going to New York, remember? He’s gonna stay-“

“And you were accepted at Mercer, remember? That’s an option-” We were interrupted by Tony’s arrival.

“The engine’s working, but it won’t be forever. Who lives the closest to here?” Everyone turned to Sapphire, who was beginning to wake up. The sleepy red head blearily blinked her eyes at us before saying,

“HUH?”

After quickly explaining her our plan, Sapphire grudgingly consented, looking fairly annoyed. Satisfied, Tony began to drive through the night, nervously looking around for any sign of cops. We may have managed to run from them before, but that didn’t mean we were totally invincible. Obviously uncomfortable with the silence, Charlotte turned on the radio, only to hear this:

**_All Valdosta residents, please remain indoors until further notice! I repeat, please remain indoors until further notice!_ **

Right after that, some pop song came on, probably a popular one, but no one in the car listened to the lyrics.

“What happened? Did we miss something?” I detected pure fear in Sapphire’s voice, and I took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “Are we even safe?”

~~~~~

I woke up to the sight to light blue eyes gazing at me curiously. At first, I assumed it was Sapphire, but the shade was wrong. It was more of a sky blue that was piercing into me. After rubbing my eyes, I figured out who it was.

Sapphire’s younger sister Emily giggled softly at me, clapping her thick hands together. The adorable four year old was wearing my friend’s old Barbie onesie, looking absolutely adorable with her blonde pigtails.

“Zurie, you fell asleep here!” She seemed amused with the idea that I crashed on the couch, and I simply grinned at the kid.

“Yeah, Zurie had to crash here. Where’s Sissy?” She pointed in another direction, still laughing. Rolling my eyes, I pushed myself off the sofa and fought off the sudden vertigo. A vicious reminder of the night before exploded in my head, and I groaned loudly. This is my punishment for drinking so goddamn much; last night was such a bust. Well, of course, except for Oliver. My lips still tingled from that kiss, and I swear, I could taste him in my mouth.

“Zurie, I want my mommy.” The little girl clung on to my legs, giving me a cute smile. Laughing, I picked her up and rest her on my lap as I went up the stairs. With every step, the floors creaked, and I tried to keep my steps light. As far as I knew, it could have been three in the morning, and I wasn’t in the mood to wake up anyone. We went to her parents’ room, and I was shocked to see that they weren’t in there. That’s when the creeping feeling came onto my skin, and I held the little girl to me tightly.

In all the times I had crashed here (planned or not), Sapphire’s parents had always been here, and I mean _always_. Now, the idea of them not in the house scared me, especially with that daunting radio broadcast.

“Zurie, where’s Mommy and Daddy?” Her fat hands were entangled in my hair, absentmindedly messing with the strands. I whispered,

“I don’t know, Emmy. But we’re gonna find out.” I quickly ran down the steps into the living room and checked the time: _9:15 AM._ Yep, something was up. After laying the girl on the couch and serving her some Cheerios, I tried to turn on the television, but the cable was out, only creating static on the screen. Goosebumps ran up my body at this, and I was tempted to start waking up the others. Thankfully, I didn’t have to.

“Zura, what’s with the noise?” I turned around to see Charlotte leaning against the door frame that led to the basement, her pale blue eyes blinking sleepily. Before I answered, my eyes looked at her body once again, and I found waves of disapproval rushing into my body, making me retort,

“Really, Charlotte?” My friend was only clad in a white undershirt that covered her underwear and black lace bra whose straps kept falling off her shoulders. Her pink cheeks were flushed, and I could see a certain calm in her body that could _only_ result from an orgasm. “Did you have to screw Tony?” A sheepish grin came on Charlotte’s face, and she giggled softly, closing the door behind her.

“Shhhh…he’s still sleeping. With that stupid smile on her face, she walked towards me and sat on the couch, completely disregarding Emily. The little girl stared confusedly at my friend’s lack of clothes, and I hissed,

“There are KIDS in this house, Charlotte! Do you really think _this_ was the time to quench your libido?” She raised an eyebrow at me before replying,

“Do you really think you have the right to decide when to open my legs or not? If I’m going to have sex, I’m going to have sex.” Charlotte wasn’t promiscuous, per say. She occasionally had sex with people she felt had a lot of potential and people like that didn’t come around often. People often shunned her for this, only to have to apologize after me and Sapphire threatened them. “You never seemed to care about my sex life. Why are you bitching about it now?” The way she was speaking to me was meant to make me back down and submit. One thing Charlotte hated was people butting into her personal decisions; we had driven on this road before, and I was always the one forced to surrender and apologize. But it wasn’t going to happen. I was in the right, not here. With a different kind of impulse, I walked over to the couch and got in her face and hissed,

“Don’t you dare pull that shit with me; I’ve been nothing but SUPPORTIVE of you. I don’t really care if you have sex with some douche bag or not; I just think that THIS wasn’t the time for that, nor the place!” I put loads of steel into my voice, probably coming across harsher than I intended to. But it got the desired effect. Charlotte looked taken aback, and I could sense reproach in her eyes. She zipped her mouth and nodded. Feeling better, I said, “Anyway, I’m just saying that something weird is going on; Sapphire’s parents aren’t home.” Confused, she asked,

“Weren’t they home when we got here?” To be honest, the event from last night were kind of blurred, and only the kiss and the disturbing radio broadcast stood out clearly. “I mean…if they aren’t here, then they must have not been for a while.”

“If that’s the case, then they left Bethany and Emily alone, and you know that NEVER happens.” Charlotte nodded in agreement before gesturing to the TV.

“What’s the deal with the static? Cable not working?” Shaking my head, I pointed to the cable box underneath the television set. The green light was on, signifying that the signal was working correctly. She frowned, saying, “So, the cable is working. So what’s the problem?”

“What do you think that broadcast meant?” Her eyes widened at the memory of the message, and the uneasiness finally settled in her eyes.

“I don’t know…I mean…it could have been anything, and...” Then, something from the night before crashed into my mind, bringing a new possibility.

“Right before Sapphire and I left the house, I saw a new broadcast of some new virus that was spreading throughout the country. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but now it kind of makes sense.” Some hesitation flashed through Charlotte’s face before she replied,

“Ok, but how bad can a virus get? I mean, they made it sound like an emergency. They literally said to NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE.” Suddenly, something didn’t fit.

“Wait a minute; when we got the message, Sapphire’s parents were most likely home. A broadcast like that? They must have sent a message through the television, warning the whole damn city. Supposing they got it, they would have stayed in the house. But here we are, alone in this place.” Her eyes narrowed as she processed all this.

“So, something made them leave the house? But if it was an emergency, they would have brought their kids with them.” My heart began to beat hard, and for the first time, I grew concerned for my family. What if they hadn’t gotten the message? “Let’s wake up the others.” She ran down the steps while I trudge into the upper level again.

In Sapphire’s room lay Mason and my friend, both completely passed out. Thankfully, they were fully clothes, meaning that I wouldn’t be intruding on them naked. Carefully, I shook the redhead’s body softly and dodged quickly when her hand flew up lazily to swat me away.

“Go away.” She snuggled closer to Mason, and I sighed in exasperation. Then I saw her blue phone on her nightstand, lighting up the dark room. Curious, I tiptoed around their bodies and picked up the device, swiping the front screen to unlock it. To my shock, five text messages popped up. They were all from her mother.

**_Sapphire, where are you? Come home now!_ **

**_Honey, is Azura with you? Her parents called!_ **

**_Sapphire Raine Edwards, when you get back here, you’re grounded!_ **

**_Sapphire, there’s a disturbing radio message broadcasting, come home please! It’s a matter of national security!_ **

**_Honey, wherever you are, do NOT leave the house!_ **

There were also tons of miscalls from her mom, and I noticed the time on the latest text message: 11:45. That had to have been around the time we were leaving the party; so we definitely missed an earlier radio message. And now, they weren’t here.

Panicked, I started shaking the couple roughly, forcing them to wake up. Mason groaned and pushed me away, and I yelled at the two of them,

“BOTH OF YOU, WAKE THE FUCK UP!” Sapphire’s eyes opened at the sound of my voice, and she pushed herself off the bed slowly.

“What’s going on, Azura?” I threw the phone at her, and she caught it swiftly. By now, her boyfriend was opening his eyes and giving me a very annoyed look. “What? Wait, where’s my mom?” Breathing heavily, I said,

“She’s not here. She hasn’t been here for a while, I think.” Immediately, her ocean eyes widened, and she ran out of the room, yelling for her sisters. Mason and I found her downstairs, holding Emily tightly to her body and hugging a disgruntled preteen. Bethany was a hipster thirteen year old with the sweetest disposition ever, at least to me. She was taller than her tiny sister and had rebellious bluish green color at the tips of her light blonde hair; greyish blue orbs light up her face, also bringing attention to her cute freckles. Tony was lying the couch wearing his clothes from the night before, looking particularly annoyed. He saw me going down the stairs, and he gave me a smirk, gesturing to Charlotte. In return, I glared at him, trying to not strangle him.

“Bethany, when did Mom and Dad leave?” The sleepy teen replied,

“Around midnight; she found out you snuck out and freaked out. She was about to start searching through the neighborhood when some message came on the radio; that’s when she started getting nervous. Finally, at 12, Dad heard some weird noise down the street, and he and mom left to check it out. I went to bed right after that; I thought she would…you know…be home already.” My friends and I shared a look, and we knew that this was getting bad. Now, we knew that they did leave; only question was why.

“Azura and Charlotte, go call your families. Mason, here, use my phone. Tony-”

“My parents are dead; I live on my own.” The silence that followed his quiet interrupted was so thick, almost making me suffocate. It had never occurred to me whether Tony lived with his parents. I never cared enough to find out, and now, it was explaining a little bit of his character. Trying to leave the situation, I grabbed my phone from my bag on the couch and dialed my mom’s number.

_Hi, this is Marie Rocket’s cell; please make a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. BEEP!_

I hung up, feeling cold and clammy inside. No matter how bad a fight, Mom _always_ answered her phone when I called, usually yelling at me but still helping me. We had such a bipolar relationship, and it drove me nuts. I called my Dad and got the same response.

“Are they alright?” Sapphire came up from behind me, her eyes full of concern. Trembling, I whispered,

“They didn’t answer.”

~~~~~

“Just be safe, alright?” I nodded numbly as I jumped into my truck, trying to keep myself from panicking. Tony sat in the passenger’s seat, his expression grave. Sapphire had persuaded me to take him with me when I drove to find my family. Mason was traveling with Charlotte to find hers while Sapphire stayed at home with her siblings alone. To be honest, I was too freaked out to even protest. All that was running through my head were the words I had screamed at my parents before I left. “Azura?” I looked out the window to see my friend gazing at me with fear in her eyes. “Come back…please?” Shaking, I said with a wavering smile,

“Don’t I always?” Then, I started the ignition in the car, ending the conversation. With ease, I backed out of the driveway and started speeding towards my house.

The route I took scared me more than the situation at hand. The streets were vacant, and there wasn’t a soul outside their homes. Hell, there weren’t any stray cats that roamed the suburbs! The sky was cloudy, creating a gray atmosphere everywhere. I felt like I was in a horror movie, like I was the only human being alive.

“Rockets, what were the last words you said to your parents?” The question threw me off, and I turned to look at Tony with a confused look. He hadn’t spoken for the past ten minutes; why was he now? “You’re psyching yourself out; I’m giving me something different to focus on. Answer the question. What were the last words you said to your parents?” My response was echoing in my mind, and I whispered,

“‘I hate you.’” My voice was low and quiet, but I knew he had heard me. How could he have not? His green eyes widened in shock, and I thought he would quit while he was ahead. He proved me wrong, though.

“Why? Why would you say that?” Annoyed, I replied,

“I don’t think that’s any of your business-”

“Rockets, I’m a pretty messed up person, and I would never have said that to my parents.” The judgment was seeping from his voice, and I felt my walls come down.

“Fine! You wanna know why? I’ll tell you!” I braked harshly, causing our bodies to lurch forward. But I didn’t allow that to stop me. “Charlotte and I have been planning to run off to New York as soon as I turned eighteen; we haven’t told _anyone_ this. Not even Sapphire. It’s been my dream to become a writer, and this would be my shot. Yesterday, I just had to tell them; the impulse was too tempting. For a moment, I thought that I would have their support. Do you wanna know what they did?” Tony was staring at me with emotionless eyes, and I screamed. “THEY FUCKING LAUGHED AT ME!” The tears finally fell, and the truth was out. The reason I left, the reason I dyed my hair, the reason I threw away logic was out in the open. I sobbed and screamed in car, banging on the steering wheel. I could feel my hands and arms beginning to swell and began to hit them harder, any way to shut the pain out. Then, hands held me back, and I was forced to look into his eyes. The green ones that brought me back to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a LONG time since I've updated, but I finally have it! Please comment or leave a kudos if you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter, and I hope you guys like it. Please read and review! Love kudos! :)


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